An elderly driver facing motor vehicle homicide charges in the death of a 7-year-old Halifax boy is the latest in a string of pedestrian crashes across the region, and served as a grim reminder to some area families who have lived through similar ordeals.

Maria Papadopoulos

An elderly driver facing motor vehicle homicide charges in the death of a 7-year-old Halifax boy is the latest in a string of pedestrian crashes across the region, and served as a grim reminder to some area families who have lived through similar ordeals.

The Saturday crash bore similarities to a fatal crash last month in Stoughton, in which an 88-year-old driver has been charged with striking and killing a 4-year-old girl on a crosswalk.

Marcia Chadbourne, 76, was charged with motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation and failure to yield at a crosswalk following the weekend accident on Route 106 in Halifax, police said.

Police said Herbert Whitaker IV, 7, of Halifax, was struck and killed by a car driven by Chadbourne as the boy tried to ride his bike across the street on a crosswalk behind his father.

The Whitaker family declined comment from their Fairway Drive home in Halifax on Sunday afternoon.

Chadbourne’s husband, Wesley Chadbourne, raised his hands in the air Sunday afternoon when asked about the incident.

“What can you say?” he said in the doorway of the couple’s Colchester Street home.

His wife was inside taking a nap, he said, before declining further comment.

The crash occurred just before noon on Saturday in the area of 546 Plymouth St., a few feet from the Halifax police station.

On Sunday, a toddler and a 32-year-old woman were seriously injured by a 71-year-old driver while they were on a sidewalk in Somerville around 3 p.m. As of Sunday night, the woman remained in critical condition, and the 2-year-old boy was listed in serious condition, according to the report.

Grim reminder

News of the crash sent familiar shockwaves to Fred Villa in Abington, one month after his 5-year-old great-niece, Brandy Rix, was struck and seriously injured in a pedestrian crash.

The girl was in a crosswalk on North Avenue in Abington with her mother and three siblings when she was struck by a medical transport van on June 17.

“It happened again, so when is it going to stop?” Villa, 58, said Sunday after learning of the fatal pedestrian crash in Halifax.

Brandy suffered broken bones throughout her body, including a fractured skull, and is now home from a Boston hospital recovering with three “pins in her leg,” Villa said.

“It’s just going to take time,” Villa said of her recovery.

Over in Avon, the weekend crash brought back painful memories for Tina Casey, whose 5-year-old boy, Christopher, was killed in a pedestrian crash four years ago.

She and Christopher were walking along Route 28 in Avon on July 6, 2005, when a minivan struck and killed her son and seriously injured Casey.

Casey, who was in a medically induced coma at Boston Medical Center following the accident, said she is still trying to heal from the pain of losing her young son.

“It hurts,” said Casey, who formed a homicide grievance group in Brockton to help other grieving families after her son was killed.

She offered her condolences to the Whitaker family in Halifax. “My heart goes out to them,” she said.

Calls for road tests

This year’s string of vehicle accidents involving drivers 70 and older has lent increasing urgency to the debate over whether more frequent vision and road tests are necessary for the state’s aging population.

But Casey said all drivers — not just the elderly — should be retested every five years.

“They don’t stop. They don’t remember what they were taught. They do, but they don’t care,” said Casey, adding she feels that elderly drivers are being “singled out.”

Meanwhile, a growing makeshift memorial for Herbert, known to neighbors as “Royce,” could be seen at the site of the Halifax crash on Sunday.

A bouquet of flowers sat next to the crosswalk under a bright yellow sign warning drivers about crossing pedestrians. Several extinguished tea lights and candles and a white cross attached to the utility pole were nearby, along with the words “We will miss you Royce” handwritten on a small card.

On nearby Fairview Drive, where the boy lived with his family, a neighbor said he was saddened to hear about his sudden death.

“It’s so close to home,” said Dan McIver, a father of two, including a 7-year-old boy. “The whole neighborhood is pretty shocked.”

Chadbourne will be sent a summons to appear in Plymouth District Court in the near future, police said.

Halifax police have also asked the Registry of Motor Vehicles to declare Chadbourne an “imminent threat” and to revoke her license.

Enterprise writer Maria Papadopoulos can be reached at mpapadopoulos@enterprisenews.com.

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